Ready to Love Again
by americanhoney139
Summary: After all this time, the false "I love you"s and compassionate words hurt her more than anything. But with the help of her brown skinned friend, she can get over him, and maybe gain some new feelings in the proses. Can Andre help Jade out of her funk?


Ready to Love Again

**I wrote a few song-fic about Tori and Beck, but here's one about Jade and Andre. This is slightly AU because Beck and Jade never dated, but instead she dated a guy named Scott while Tori and Beck have been shyly flirting around wanting to be more than friends. Jade has already broken up, and gotten back together, with Scott. Ray is Scott's best friend and Jessie is the mean girl and, even though Jade can stand up for herself, Jessie ridicules her and doesn't let her get a say in anything. Jade is very OOC in this story!**

_Seems like I was walking in the wrong direction_

_I barely recognize my own reflection, no_

_Scared of love but scared of life alone_

I looked into the mirror. Staring back at me was a different person, a familiar stranger. Melted ice blue-green eyes looked back at me from an expressionless face. The eyebrow piercing didn't seem real to me anymore; it was as if it were fake, like me. I reached up to run my fingers through my ill-kept black hair, the streaks a light blue. It felt like straw to me, stringy and dry. The person in the mirror waved and I waved back. Maybe she was the real person and I was just the mirror image. All because I was willing to forgive. My fatal flaw.

_(Flashback)_

_My friends and I were hanging out at PIE, a half-eaten cheese pizza on a platter in the middle of the table. Cat was sitting on my right side, Tori on my left. My back was to the door with Beck, Robbie, and Andre facing us. We were laughing and just being spontaneous, Cat belting out lyrics for songs she knew on the radio. I bit down on the cheesy slice and it tasted amazing. Andre smiled at me as I licked my lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beck lean over and whisper something to Tori, to which she smiled shyly and blushed. Cat was chewing noisily on my other side, pretending to be a dinosaur while Robbie laughed. I looked back at Andre to see his unfocused gaze. He reached out and, with a gentle hand, wiped some sauce I must have missed off my chin. The whole table went silent. But just as quickly as the silence had come, it ended and the playfulness of our table continued. For a few minutes everything was fine._

_Then Robbie went pale, Andre's jaw clenched angrily, and Beck just raised an eyebrow (his way of being surprised). Tori and Cat turned around, only to turn back quickly as if nothing was bad. That's when I heard it._

_Ray, somewhere behind me, screamed "Get a room, dude!" I turned around in my seat to see who he was calling to. And there... in the middle of PIE... were Jessie and Scott, making out. I had forgiven him after finding him with her and he said he would never do it again. Yet here he was, sucking faces with her._

_I stood up and smacked my hand against the table, which broke them apart. Scott looked from me to the blond in his arms and back, like he was making a choice. Well, he didn't need to make one; I had already made one for us. "Jade, wait!" his voice called out behind me, just like last time. He grabbed my hand, turning me around so I had to face him._

_"I'm 'done' waiting Scott. That's all I ever seem to do in this relationship. You get mad when I hang out with Andre, Robbie, or Beck, who almost has a girlfriend. But you can make out with Jessie, and you expect me to just stand around. That's not how a nomad relationship works, Scott!" I yelled, storming off. But as soon as I was halfway to my house I found a bench and cried my heart out._

_(End Flashback)_

I thought he loved me. He had said it all the time, but they must have been empty words. Because he didn't love me, I was just something to pass the time. It was going to be hard to get over him. In the beginning he was every girl's dream: funny, popular, athletic, and gorgeous. Except for the fact that he never called, he was a pretty good boyfriend. Until he got tired of me and moved on to someone new.

_Seems I've been playing on the safe side baby_

_Building walls around my heart to save me, oh_

_But it's time for me to let it go_

It was raining when I left the house that night. I didn't bring an umbrella, but I didn't want one. The rain would hide the fact that I was crying. Walking down the road, I found myself at an empty playground; since it was raining there were no kids out today. I was soaked to the skin by the time I sat down on a swing. I just sat and wallowed in my own sorrow.

"Jade!" I heard someone call my name. How long had I been sitting here? Looking around, I was surprised that the sun had set and it was dark out. Andre was the one calling my name, but I stayed silent, hoping he wouldn't see me. No such luck.

"Jade, there you are!" he called as he came down the road holding a flashlight on me. I shivered. Andre came over and let his umbrella drop as he wrapped me in a hug. But I stayed frozen, dead to the world. He lifted my chin up and our brown eyes met.

_Yeah, I'm ready to feel now_

_No longer am I afraid of the fall down_

_It must be time to move on now_

_Without the fear of how it might end_

_I guess I'm ready to love again_

A warm electric shock coursed through my frozen system. I shivered violently as I finally felt how cold I was. I could feel the heat of a body pressed against mine. Andre's warm body. I buried my face in his shoulder, silently sobbing. "Shh, shh. Everything's going to be fine," Andre whisperer into my hair.

I pressed my face further into his shoulder and whispered, "Thank you..." into his neck.

_Just when we think that love will never find you_

_You runaway but still its right behind you, oh_

_It's just something that you can't control_

"Hey Jade, how you feeling?" Andre yelled from afar the day after he found me at the park. At school today I had seen Scott and Jessie, openly flirting and kissing. I know I should have been over him, but the empty compliments and "I love you"s. So I had taken different route and avoided lunch altogether. I was on the bleacher of the soccer field.

I looked up to see the brown skinned boy coming towards me. He had a kind of frantic energy about him, but when he saw me those worried eyes turned to a calm relief. "I'm fine Andre," I reassured him as he sat down next to me. "Why are you so worried?"

"Because when we couldn't find you and you never came to lunch, I was worried. Don't scare me like that again!" he said as he hugged me tightly. I felt like we were a puzzle, and I wonder why I hadn't see this before. I pulled away from the hug and looked into his chocolate brown eyes, so unlike Scott's cold hazel ones, that only showed concern and caring. "Jade?" I heard him ask, but it was distant like I had tuned the world out. All I could see was his face.

_Yeah, I'm ready to feel now_

_No longer am I afraid of the fall down_

_It must be time to move on now_

_Without the fear of how it might end_

_I guess I'm ready to love again_

Andre looked at me with unsure eyes. "Jade, are you okay?" he asked, bringing a warm hand to my cheek. It wasn't like Scot and his weird obsession with my hair; it was a gentle loving gesture. I leaned into his hand and sighed.

"I'm alright now Andre. Thanks for caring," I whispered. His dazzling smile made butterflies appear in my stomach, a feeling that Scott had once given me.

"What are best friends for?" he teased, but I could hear the hurt in his voice.

"You're not just a friend Andre," I told him as I stood up, leaving him with a confused look on his face.

_So come and find me_

_I'll be waiting up for you_

_I'll be holding out for you tonight_

At about 12 o'clock that night I woke up to a tapping noise on my window. 'Tack-Tack'. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I went to open the window, only to have a rock fly past my shoulder. Looking down, I saw Andre standing underneath my widow with small rocks in his hand. "What are you doing?" I hissed before he could throw another rock. He looked up with serious eyes.

"I need to talk to you," he whispered. I shook my head and motioned for him to stay where he was. I slid into some fuzzy slippers and quietly opened my door. If my father found out I was sneaking out of the house for a boy, even Andre, he would ground me until I was 30. But Andre was worth it. I took small, slow steps until I had reached the front door. Carefully opening it, I met Andre under the tree in my yard, the one surrounded by small stones.

"Hey," I whispered, sitting down against the trunk of the old oak tree.

"Hey yourself," he responded. His happy, glowing smile made the butterflies return to my stomach. He took my hand in his and pulled me up, walking the lawn until we were far enough away from the house; we could talk also see the stars from his chosen spot too. "

What did you want to tell me?" I asked, reminding him of why I came out here in the first place. He turned to me and pulled me down so we could lie side by side. Turning his head towards me, he pointed up to the stars.

"You see those stars in the sky?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, they're beautiful..." I whispered.

"They aren't the only thing outside tonight," he said with a whisper as he turned back to me. I turned to him and all the breath left my lungs. His eyes were full of love, blazing like fire in the depths of his chocolate eyes.

_Yeah, I'm ready to feel now_

_No longer am I afraid of the fall down_

"Andre..." I murmured as he wrapped his arms around me, melding my body to his. I buried my face in the crook of his neck, feeling the pulse under his dark skin. He pulled away slowly from our embrace and made my eyes meet his.

"Jade, I wasn't lying before," he told me, brushing a lock of hair from my face. "I really like you, but if you don't like me back..." His eyes shone with pain and silent agony. "I'll be whatever you want me to be. Even if it's only a friend, I'll take it."

"Andre..." I murmured again, pulling up into a sitting position. He rested his head on the palm of his hand, long brown hair falling onto his beautifully sculpted face. I brushed it away with gentle fingers. "I'm still in shock from what Scott did to me, but it's only made me realize that, after I started hanging out with you, I didn't like Scott that much anymore." His whole face lit up; a new feeling shining through the hurt, making it fade into the background. "But I resent saying the things I said to you before."

"What do you mean?" he asked. He took my hand, from its place on my lap, and put it in his lap. He intertwined our fingers, making heat course through my whole body.

I looked down and back up again, taking a deep breath before I said, "I don't want just be friends, Andre." His eyes sparked with recognition at the words I said before.

"You said that before, at school today too," he remembered. "But I still don't understand what you mean by it."

_It must be time to move on now_

_Without the fear of how it might end_

"I'm scared of a relationship. But I trust you, Andre. Trust you enough to give you the key to my heart," I told him, moving closer. "What are you doing?" I whispered as he cupped my face in his warm hand.

He just shook his head and his lips covered mine. The kiss was slow and sweet, everything I had wanted my first kiss to be like. I had never let Scott kiss me, however much he pressured me, I never gave in.

Pulling away, I put my fingers to my lips. I saw Andre looking at me with a love-struck smile on his face, and I knew I had the same look on my face. Two love-struck teenagers in the garden looking up at the stars, content to be in each other's presence, not saying anything.

Andre took me in his arms and I leaned back to look at him. "_I guess I'm ready..._" I started. "_I'm ready to love again_."

**I hope you like this song-fic. The last italics are not her singing, but it is the last few lines of the song so I put it like that. The song is _Ready to Love Again_ by Lady Antebellum. Review and read my other stories.**


End file.
